(CNN) - Business leaders at the White House meeting on immigration Tuesday were encouraged by the "general principles" for immigration reform that have emerged from the White House and Senate, Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein said.

"We're crazy if we don't take advantage of this great asset which is the draw of the American dream," he said in an interview on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."

He pointed to the benefits of handling the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently estimated to be in the U.S., saying, "Getting them done, getting them to pay back taxes, getting them to stay in line, legalizing the position that they're already occupying is a good thing for them, but it's a good thing for the country and the economy."

Yes, the economy would benefit. If you bring the illegals out into the open, have them pay taxes and fines and give them a path to citizenship, it would be a good start. Except for making the bigots feel good, there is no real reason not to fix this immigration problem.